In 2017, the Centre for Innovation established a new research funding program – the Blood Efficiency Accelerator Award Program or “BEAP”. The BEAP funds research to improve the efficient and appropriate use of blood and blood products. Quick Facts: BEAP was established in 2017 to support research projects that can improve the efficient and appropriate utilization of blood products, while maintaining the safety of the blood system Applicants to BEAP must be affiliated with Canadian Blood Services or a Canadian academic program as a faculty member All BEAP project teams must include one Canadian

Canadian Blood Services' Centre for Innovation currently has four competitive funding competitions open for applications. All close on November 30, 2018. Read on to see if you or any of your colleagues or students are eligible for these exciting opportunities! Canadian Blood Services' Graduate Fellowship Program The Graduate Fellowship Program provides stipend support for young investigators who want to initiate or continue training in the field of blood transfusion and transplantation science. The maximum value of each fellowship is $25,000 per annum, with an additional travel allowance of $1

Get to know Dr. Chantale Pambrun, Director, Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation Previously led by Judie Leach Bennett, who joined the executive management team as Vice-President, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer, Dr. Chantale Pambrun took over as Director of the Centre for Innovation in December 2017. She was formerly associate director, donor and clinical services and, prior to joining us at Canadian Blood Services, she was the Medical Director of Hematopathology at a tertiary health care centre for women and children in Halifax, NS. To get to know Dr. Pambrun better, we

Do you suffer from FOMO? Fear of missing out! Fear no more, the event page on Canadian Blood Services' professional education website has you covered! This is your one-stop shop to learn more about local, national and international education events covering blood, plasma and transfusion, organ and tissue donation and transplantation, as well as hematopoietic stem cells. Here you’ll find a searchable and easy-to-view calendar of conferences, lectures, courses and more. Check it out! Be THAT person – the one who never misses an abstract deadline or early bird registration rate! And - to event

For this instalment of “Meet the researcher”, we met with Dr. Jason Acker, a senior research scientist at Canadian Blood Services who specializes in the manufacturing and storage of blood components. “What gets me up in the morning is the knowledge that through the work of my team and my collaborators, we are able to have a direct impact on the lives of patients. The technical and scientific support we provide helps the organization make critical decisions about the quality of the products that we are collecting, manufacturing and distributing.” ~ Dr. Jason Acker, Research Scientist, Canadian

For this installment of “Meet the Researcher” we caught up with Dr. Alan Lazarus a research scientist and immunologist at Canadian Blood Services’ Centre for Innovation. How long have you been at Canadian Blood Services? I've been working with the blood service in Canada since 1994. What’s your role? As a Canadian Blood Services scientist, my role is to lead research studies that further our understanding of how therapeutic immunoglobulin products like intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and anti-D work in situations in which they are used. As an example, IVIg is a very expensive biologic made

For this instalment of “Meet the researcher”, we met with Dr. Donald Branch, a scientist at Canadian Blood Services who studies infectious diseases and immunology. How long have you been with Canadian Blood Services? I started with the Canadian Red Cross at the Edmonton Blood Centre in December 1985. I was recruited there by the medical director, Dr. Jean-Michel Turc, to do a PhD in the department of immunology at the University of Alberta and to use my expertise in transfusion medicine as a consultant for the researchers and staff at the Edmonton Centre. After completing my PhD, I moved to a

Recipients of the Canadian Blood Services Lifetime Achievement Award are individuals whose landmark contributions are recognized as both extraordinary and world class in the field of transfusion or transplantation medicine, stem cell or cord blood research in Canada and/or abroad.

In 2017, we published numerous research stories, here are a few of our favourites. Natural killers: when cells go wrong — New research reveals insights into causes of FNAIT A new study by Centre for Innovation scientist Dr. Heyu Ni and his research team at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto reveals insights into causes of miscarriage for some women... Calculating impacts of change Our in-house engineer, John Blake, did some nifty number crunching and estimated that an eligibility change would mean about 35,000 fewer donations collected in a year — hence a push for new donors to step forward to

It's hard to believe that 2017 is almost over. As we prepare for 2018, we take a look back on our most-read research, education and discovery stories from the past year. #5 Encouraging meaningful careers in STEM – Part 1 To encourage more young people to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and math, and in honour of Ada Lovelace Day 2017, we were pleased to share profiles of women in these essential fields... #4 Kidney Paired Donation – powerful program reaches significant milestone More than 500 kidney transplants have occurred across Canada through the Kidney Paired Donation